Supposed iPhone 5 front panel compared with iPhone 4 display

We've seen lots of the rumored iPhone 5's body by now, and now the front cover has been acquired and squared up against the iPhone 4S. The new FaceTime camera position lines up just fine with what we were seeing on the chassis, and when put on top of an iPhone we're all familiar with, we get a good sense of just how much bigger the iPhone 5 will be. Other pictures highlight the position of the light sensor (to the right of the iSight camera, and the proximity sensor (to the right of the earpiece).

Of course, this is all pre-release, so subject to change (or just being a Chinese knock-off) but the more we see these parts bubble up and remain consistent, the more likely it is that they'll turn out to be legit. We've already talked a lot about the pros and cons of a 4-inch iPhone, but has your thinking changed at all after seeing the display size compared directly to your current iPhone? Is the long and thin look something you could get used to? How will this bigger screen impact battery life?

Reader comments

Supposed iPhone 5 front panel compared with iPhone 4 display

Please Apple. Don't go with a longer screen and keep the same width. Unfortunately Im starting feel they might do this because they don't want to look like they are conforming to the size of other phones. This looks too tall. I dream of an iPhone with larger screen but not this way.

+1
It's not the scrolling that irritates me, it's the TINY keyboard keys & the pinching & zooming on non mobile friendly sites. Sportscar designers will tell you: wider is better. Not all of us have tiny hands. We can "hand"le a wider phone.

Apply is simply crazy/out of touch with the smartphone world. this new screen is puny. yet, they're going to be market as being bigger. they're just creating this new screen just so they can say "we have a larger screen". i have come to the realization that Apple wants people to use their iPhone as a phone first and then, a very very very distant second, a computer device. They know they have enough early adopters and sheep that they'll buy both an iPhone and an iPad. I believe that's the market they're focussing on unlike Samsung and HTC which is focussing on a crossover smartphone. In any event, the sheep will buy the iPhone 5 and it will make a huge dent in Samsung's market in the USA because the Samsung Galaxy 3 is only a slight improvement over it's predecessor, the SG II. The 3 in North America has a different cpu but the same speed as the one in the SG 2. It has a larger screen, but it still has the lousy Samsung UI plus ICS (which has been stripped almost naked by Samsung).

I sure wish they would make it wider too, but all these rumors aren't looking good for a wider screen. I would like things to look bigger on the screen, it's easier to scroll the screen with one hand rather than zoom. I'm sure there are reasons but I don't like the idea that much. Hopefully it's all rumors, I would probable just keep it the same size if they aren't going to make it wider too.
Yeah it may help with movies but that's not my everyday concern.

Seriously? will assure you? dude, can't you think on your own. you think all those times you've laid your hands on your friends 4.3" samsungs and gone, oh baby, are just gonna go away becasue apple somehow convinces you that your feelings were actually some false reaction to a bad idea. Geez! You apple people! I love my iphone and my ipad, but get with it. Apple is not everything. And they need to keep up with this trend. I'll tell you waht their problem is. They know their 4" phone is going to weigh a bloody ton if they go to the size of the galaxy per se. So they figure there will be a ton of people just like you that they can somehow convince you that you don't need it. Just like Mac for business. Apple somehow convinced him that he needed to drop his pc and spend $2K to switch his business computer. Guess what. Hasn't worked. Going back to PC as we speak and taking his beautiful Mac home to use it there. Once technology companies start 'convincing' people they need something, it's downhill from there, because eventually the sheeple will see the light and come to their senses.

Well said, Apple is trying to shape how people think...and that's why we have cults. The 4 inch screen is a HUGE mistake, but we still have a lot of people posting that they don't need a larger screen. At the same time, we have reviewers, media, etc, hyping the phone as having or rumoured to have a larger screen. If they would only say and write that the iPhone 5 is rumoured to have a small increase in size instead of saying "bigger". And that's how Apple is shaping how people think and helping them decide what they need.

Yes, thanks I can think for myself. I haven't always been convinced of things when they are released but they turn out to be the right thing because of the way it's implemented. Fortunately, non of my friends have crappy Samsung's with ridiculous phone screen sizes. I am trying to understand the super long screen rather then just a bump up to 4 inches all the way. I am not one of those crazy people who wants a 6 inch screen on my phone, I was just hoping for a slight increase. I wish I could convince my boss to switch to Macs for the office because these PC's are useless and don't work the way they're supposed to. Unfortunately because of software restrictions we have to use PC's. When my work PC takes twenty minutes just to open outlook, that's when I have a problem. But that's off topic. :)

I'm willing to bet there was a little sarcasm there. And honestly maybe Apple can show us some magical way this long phone will work better, guess we'll see. As for 4.3" Androids I had one before my 4s and just today was messing around with my coworker's droid razr and I don't miss it. It felt too big and awkward. Even though that may be a little bias since he has it in an otter box and I don't use any case at all so it was one extreme to the other.

I think it's kind of obvious. Apple is moving the iPhone dimensions to a standard movie size. I'm not saying it's what I want at all. I was hoping for the current iPhone screen dimensions, just larger.

I concur with the above. If they're gonna go bigger, bigger. I think their gonna weird everyone out with something like this. No way this is a good idea. Apple can do wrong if their not careful. You can't always lead the bandwagon. And they've proven (the reminders bar) that they don't have to. Samsung, HTC, LG . . . they are praying that Apple does something like this. If I dont' get a bigger screen with the nexgen iphone, I'm going Windows phone. The aformentioned companies have proven that size does matter.

I'm actually ok with the longer screen, this means that the average person's thumb will still be able to reach across the entire width of the screen. Which make one handed typing easier. On a wider device, you probably have to shift the position of your hand in order to reach further ends, and that, isn't good for grip.
The only concern i have, are the usage of iOS (presuming iOS 5 as we still have no clue what 6 brings). The notifications are accessed by swiping from the top, whilst the home button is at the bottom. That would mean you would have to either use 2 hands, or constantly shift the position of the hand.
But, we still don't know what iOS 6 will bring. so... its hard to say.

Still very suspicious of the supposed new iPhone parts. Why would repair shops be getting parts this far in advance? For a phone that supposedly won't even be released for 3 or 4 months?
Also, there's a cash incentive for someone, anyone, to sneak real and counterfeit iPhone parts out of factories. Sites who want to either promote themselves as 1) iPhone repair shops or 2) Apple rumor mongers would be glad to pay to get the scoop.

I am failing to see how this longer screen would benefit me: Bigger, yes. Longer, no. I can understand Apple wanting to keep the standard width to ensure compatibility with aftermarket products (my Bose SoundDock comes to mind), but if they are changing the dock connector, it wont really matter since it wont work with those older peripherals anyways... With the dock connector change, it actually seems like the IDEAL time to change the width ...

I don't believe these "leaks" are accurate. That design looks stupid, I saw a back plating too in another leak from 9to5mac which seams to point to the same thing.
A taller iPhone.
Impossible, Jony Ive stated that the works he's doing now is his best yet, this is also rumored to be the last design approved by Steve Jobs. It can't be this crap. A taller screen, with the same width, would make the iPhone and Apple look stupid.
Apple has made some strange choices in the past, with the no screen iPod shuffle, but this is different and doesn't feel innovative at all, people want larger screens for larger fonts, the biggest limitation to font size on the iPhone is the width of the screen, if you pinch to zoom you can only stretch the text as wide as the screen is. Being taller doesn't help at all.
Imagine you view a website in landscape mode, it stretches to fit the width, font size gets big and you get to see just a few lines of text on screen.
I refuse to believe anyone in their right mind at Apple would go along with this.
This will not happen.

Believe it....i've heard about this a few years ago,. It's true. A 4 inch screen will also remain the same form factor for around 1/2 decade. Next year, with the iPhone 6, could be the turning point for Apple. There will be new designs but without Jobs' influence. He probably convinced his wife bigger is not better. Any how, unless Apple gives us a 4.5+ inch screen and breaks away from the same form factor of keeping the same screen size the same for the next 5 years, Apple could become less profitable than what we're used to seeing. Apple may go down in history much like Nortel and RIM has. Just my prediction.

Im perfectly fine with the phone taking on this form factor. For everyone crying about make it wider or don't make it taller, their are plenty of phone out on the market that can suit your taste. So go find it. I'm sure the screen is going to have awesome resolution, the batter life so be decent, front camera will be upgraded, LTE speed will be great, processor will be new, iOS will bring some goodies, and it'll all run together as smooth as butter on a hot skillet. So I'm good and can't wait. (Bart Scott voice)

When I thought of 16:9 I was imagining the shape of a TV but smaller (wasn't thinking about home button, camera or speaker needing to be there). When it's all stretched like that it makes for one ugly looking phone. Like others have said, scrolling up and down really isn't an issue for me. Right now I'm sitting here looking at my magic mouse thinking if it was upside down and had a screen on it it'd make a pretty sweet looking phone like one of the mockups on here a while back.

Quite happy with current iPhone size. Remember this is first a phone. Want something bigger? Then get an IPad to browse the web, watch movies, type documents. Apple will have to come with a damn good upgrade for me to jump into the next iPhone iteration. If the Macs (particularly the MBA) indeed come next with Retina display I will rather spend my money on this.

I for one do not want my iPhone to turn into one of those samsung mini tablet monsters. Ideally, they would keep the same exact size they are now, and find some way to integrate the other front components like the home button and speaker port and camera elsewhere so the entire front face would be active screen If they can make it the same width but a half inch taller to get a 16:9 format, that sounds like a pretty good compromise.
I don't want to carry around a phone as wide as a paperback.

It would be difficult to imagine that developers would be forced to create applications that take into account a different aspect ratio screen. 4x3 is consistent on all IOS devices. From iPhone 1 to the New iPad, all applications can scale with simple multiplication rather than interpolation. Introducing a different aspect ratio would force devs to recompile their existing apps or create iPhone 5 Only apps. This is not likely at all... Enlarging the screen would most likely result in a reduction of the pixel density to maintain the same resolution. Also probably not likely, but WAY more likely than an aspect ratio change. The 3.5" current screen is still very good and results in a very nice size phone. Increasing it to 4" could add a little more room for us fat-fingered typists, but the aspect ration change would seriously impact MY limited ability to support multiple devices in my programs, and there are a lot of individual, independent devs like me who feel this way....

I think this will make the iPhone as tall as it is now with my mophie, because it adds a chin on the bottom. Im used to that, but iPhone 5 with a mophie might then be too tall. Also my current mophie will unfortunately not fit if it gets bigger. I'll probably stick with the 4s for another year.

Why are people reading so much into these "leaked" parts. Didn't the 4S leaked cases and parts teach you anything? Nothing is certain until Apple announce the next gen iPhone. For all we know, apple leaked the parts to suppliers to throw everyone off. Tim Cook stated @ D10 he was getting very serious about the secrecy of their products. I don't think he ment that it will start after the next iPhone, it's probably been on the top of the list since he took over.(officially)

I say that they're all fake. When REAL Apple parts sneak out into the wild, they send their security forces out to retrieve them. No one at Cupertino is budging at any of these alleged parts. I'm not believing any of it until I hear that the black shirts are visiting people with cease and desist letters.

It's a phone, people.
Most of us carry it in our pocket. The 3GS is the perfect size for a Phone. The 4 is borderline but useable.
Anything bigger won't fit the shirt pocket and will be uncomfortable in the trouser pocket.
It's a phone, that's why it's called iPhone and not iPad.
Plus anything bigger looks stupid, and Apple don't do 'looks stupid' any more.
If the image is real, it's stupid.

Where's the CROW being served up. As we see more and more indications (still rumors but growing louder) I was wondering where the crow is being served up. Several months ago it has been stated emphatically that Apple will NOT offer a larger screen by a number of iMore staff (Renee) and a moderator or two as well.
I certainly hope the larger screen is true, if for no other reason that to see those who made such emphatic remarks that no such thing would ever happen eat some CROW.

I really hope Apple doesn't just make the screen wider. I have no problems texting when turned sideways side to side. I constantly hit the space bar instead of the lower row of letters due to my figures being to wide. Apple needs to keep the width to height ration the same. I don't think to many people would mind an equal size change versus it growing longer in length then it need to be.